Beyond the City of Lights
by IloveLotRaF
Summary: This story is set after the movie. Lina, Poppy and Doon have escaped. They've left Ember and are now on the own adventure into the unknown. What will they find and how will it end?
1. Chapter 1

"Doon," Lina started, tightening her grip on her younger sister's hand, "what are we going to do?" She gestured to the sunset and the unknown world with the wave of her hand.

Doon shook his head, all this information beginning to become too much for his young mind. He massaged his temples. "I-I don't know but first we have to get off this hill, it's giving me a bad feeling." He turned away from the sisters and began a descent down the hill.

Lina hurriedly shook her head, confused also, following Doon immediately.

Together the 3 of them made their way down the hill, Lina trying very carefully to follow Doon's feet patterns so her little sister didn't slip. The hill, they found out, was quite tall and bushy. Big, prickly bushes that were along their personalised track meant Lina had to pick Poppy up so she didn't getting them in the stockings she wore.

Trees also spotted the hill, Lina and Doon finding one to rest under, 20 minutes into their journey. Lina, though, was still confused as to where they were. They sat down.

"Doon, where are we?" she asked, bringing Poppy down to sit in her lap. "I mean, I've never seen anything like this before. What did you send back to Ember?"

The boy smiled, something he couldn't believe he was doing, considering their situation. He held up a hand. "Slow down Lina, please. I still can't believe there _is_ a world outside of Ember, after all those stories they told. I'm trying to wrap my head around it too."

Lina sighed, a sign that meant she knew Doon was correct. Poppy made a familiar noise.

"Food, Doon?" Lina asked. "Did anything in your books say anything about food?"

Doon shook his head. "No it didn't." He then looked up, noticing something he hadn't seen before.

He stood up and reached out to a tree branch. Picking a red circle, he sat back down. "Will this do?" he asked, with a sly smirk.

"An apple?" Lina gasped. "From a tree?" She gently pried it from Doon's hand, and rolled it around in her hand. "A real apple," she said, mesmerized. Giving a look to the still smirking Doon, she flicked her eyes back to her sister.

Doon nodded. "Yeah, there's plenty more where that came from." Instead of standing up like Lina thought he would, Doon reached out sitting down. "Here," he said, handing one over as he bit into his own. "Let's go though. As I said before, I think something bad is going to happen. I can feel it."

Lina trusted Doon enough to know that if he said something was bad then he was probably right.

They stood, Lina bringing Poppy up too and resting her on her hip.

Doon looked back up to the place they'd come out of. From Ember, their home. "Why do you think the Builders built an underground city and locked us in it?" he asked, thinking out loud.

Lina shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant even though that exact question was the main one running around in her mind. "Maybe something bad was going to happen to mankind and they wanted to start a new world over," she answered.

Doon realised she was probably right. He began to walk back down the hill, his thinking face still on.

Suddenly, overhead a massive squawking sound was let out. All three of them looked up, shocked to something flying above them.

"What _is _that?" Lina shouted to Doon.

Dashing back to the tree so he was with the other two, and had some cover, he replied, "It's a seagull, but they're not supposed to be this big."

"Then why is it?" Lina asked, struggling to be heard over the horrible noise.

Doon shrugged, no help at all but then realising he had to take control. He was responsible for Poppy and Lina now. "Stay here," he ordered, trying terribly hard to stay calm. "I'll distract it somehow so it will go away."

Doon looked around, trying to find a rock or something but seeing something entirely different out of his peripheral vision. Focusing his entire gaze on the object, he tried to make the details out. Realising it was a person, a citizen of Ember to be exact; he found a rock and threw it in his direction. He hoped the seagull would see the rock and then the citizen.

Lina noticed his gaze locked on the door they'd come from and gasped. "Is that...," she stuttered, "is that _Looper_?"

Her companion nodded. "Yeah, it is. That's why I threw the rock in his direction."

Lina suddenly slapped him. "You threw the rock in his direction so he'd get eaten instead of us?" she asked.

Doon shrugged. "Well, yeah. You don't want Poppy to be eaten, do you?" he countered.

She hesitated for a moment but then shook her head, "No, of course not."

He smiled. "Good, now while the bird is hooked on Looper, let's get out of here." Grabbing Lina's hand, they dashed down the hill. They wove around trees and bushes, Doon occasionally looking over his shoulder to see what the bird was doing.

The three of them were breathing heavily when they reached the bottom of the hill, resting under a nearby tree. They bent over, trying to catch their breath. Now that they were down fully, Doon gazed up at the place where they left Looper and his admirer.

The bird was there, but Doon wasn't sure whether or not Looper was; if he was, he couldn't see him and if he wasn't, he couldn't see him also. Doon leant against the tree, sliding down it until he was fully planted on the ground. Lina and Poppy followed him, sitting down and resting their tired legs. Lina had noticed Doon when he'd looked for Looper, so she asked, "See him? He probably got eaten by it."

Doon laughed, despite himself. Lina gave him a look. "It's not funny Doon," she protested. "He was just like you or me."

He shook his head. "Nope, nothing like you or me. Well just me, I'm not so sure about you yet."

Lina playfully smacked his shoulder, glaring at the smirking boy. "Thanks," she said sarcastically, "that's nice."

"I know. Now let's go. I feel like exploring." Doon stood quickly, offering his hand to Lina.

She took it gratefully, bringing Poppy as well.

"Where to?" Lina asked, Poppy resting on her hip.

Doon shrugged. "Forwards," he simply replied. "Before we get the rest of Ember out-"

Lina cut him off. "Wait, the rest of Ember out? When did we discuss this?" she asked.

He shrugged again, not fazed at all. "We didn't. I just figured you'd want everyone out of Ember, just in case it collapses. We need to save the food as well," he pointed.

She shook her head, confused. "Well, you did figure correctly, but still..." she trailed off. Lina was still trying to grasp the concept that they weren't the only ones in the world, well Ember, that hadn't seen the surface, or who even knew there was a surface. She thought back to Clary, her friend, who was still in Ember. Clary would love to see this world, all the green grass, the vegetation.

"But still what, Lina?" Doon asked softly, cutting off her thoughts.

Lina refocused her attention back to Doon. "I don't know, Doon. The only thing I do, though, is, yes, we have to get the rest of the Ember citizens out."

"So, first, let's explore?"

Lina nodded firmly.

They walked forward, finally realising the big looming pine forest that stood before them. Poppy cowered in Lina's arms, covering her eyes.

Doon looked at Lina and Lina looked at Doon.

"We're still going," Lina stated, trying to push down the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Only Doon got those.

Doon smiled gently. "I know." He moved his hand to Lina's and held hers tightly. "Let's go."

Together, the three walked forward, trying terribly hard not to look at the tall trees. Within 3 minutes, they found a clearing: a big clearing. One that contained a small village with people buzzing about everywhere. Doon, Lina and even Poppy gasped.

They'd found civilisation.


	2. Chapter 2

Poppy itched to get down from her sisters' arms, excited to see different people other than Lina and Doon. She managed to break free from them and ran towards the village, ignoring the calls from Doon and Lina to come back. With no other option but to follow, the two teens headed forward quickly. Lina kept her eye on her younger sister as they speed-walked to catch up to her. Reaching Poppy before she stepped a foot inside the marked outline of the village, Lina and Doon grabbed a shoulder each, and pulled her back.

"Poppy!" Lina exclaimed, turning Poppy around so she was facing the two teens. "What are you doing? You know you're not supposed to do that!" Lina sounded angry from the outside but Doon knew her enough to know that she was just worried. And maybe a little bit mad.

The younger sister cringed away from Lina's outburst but knowing it was fully appropriate.

"Sorry, L-Lina," Poppy stuttered, those words the only one's she was able to get out.

Lina held Poppy's hand tightly in her own. "Good, just be careful," she sighed. Doon stood beside the two, his frantic heart slowly starting to beat proper again. That had been a close call. If Poppy had of stepped one foot inside the lines, he wouldn't have known what to do.

"Slowly," he warned when he realised Lina was walking slowly towards the village. Lina threw a smile over her shoulder, and shook her head in the direction of the civilisation. "Seriously?" he asked, "You want to go even though we stopped Poppy from doing exactly that."

Lina shrugged. "Just didn't want her on her own."

"Lina," he breathed, reaching forward towards her, "we don't know who these people are. What if they're not even people?"

Lina smiled. "They might not be, but we've gotten this far. We can't just give up now, can we?"

Doon hesitated, letting that thought sink in. It was true. Never in a million years would he have imagined he'd get out of Ember, let alone discovering a world he never thought existed.

"Fine," he finally answered, void of any emotion except for doubt, "we'll go. But if I get a bad feeling, we're out of there."

Lina nodded slowly. "I know."

"Just as well," he grinned, walking up to Poppy and Lina. The three of them stood together, and stepped over the line together.

As soon as their feet hit the ground, explosions were heard. Lina grabbed Poppy and hoisted her on her hip. When something else exploded they immediately hit the ground, Poppy under Lina and Doon leaning over as much as he could to protect the two girls. More explosions sounded, making being able to hear a painful advantage. Fog or smoke, they didn't know what, clouded their vision and made it hard to see anything.

"Intruder, intruder," a female voice repeated, over and over again.

"What the hell?" Lina shouted to Doon.

"I don't know," came the quick reply right in Lina's ear. She cringed but didn't make any movement as she was sandwiched between her friend and sister. Doon suddenly gasped as someone grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him up. The same happened to Lina, and when she was fully upright, Poppy was wrenched from her grip.

"Intruder, intruder," a new voice joined, repeating as well.

"Arli!" a male voice shouted over the noise, "Axil! Shut the hell up!" The voices ceased at this command, as did the explosions.

The three children were able to hear again but not by much. Ringing was still in their ears. They let out synchronised deep breaths as their vision came back too.

Surrounding them, in a circular manner, were 8 people, 4 men and 4 women. Holding onto them, though, was a man for Doon and a woman each for Poppy and Lina. The woman holding onto Poppy had her on hip, the exact way Lina did. Lina went to reach out to her sister but the woman held her at bay. Tears threatening to flood, Lina tried hard to keep them from falling down her cheeks.

A man with a black beard stepped forward. He had an authority aura, and gave Lina the creeps. "Well, well, well," he cooed, "what do we have here?"

Lina and Doon's mouths thinned, keeping them from saying anything. They were being held against their will, something that didn't go well with Doon so he certainly wasn't saying anything to this man.

"Not going to say anything, are we? Stranger danger and all?" he teased.

Doon and Lina gave questioning glances to each other that meant 'stranger danger'?

"Okay, then I'll introduce myself and the rest of these wondrous people. When that's done, you introduce yourself and we won't be strangers." He seemed happy with this logic, gap-tooth smiling while talking. "Deal?"

The two teens said nothing again but the man took the silence as a yes.

"Harvey," he began, pointing to himself, "Louisa is the blonde one next to me. Next we have Jonno, the bald one beside Louisa. Then Opal is the short one and Ruby her twin. Beside Ruby is Scott then its Yelena with the frizzy hair. Last but not least is Kameron." He grinned a one-hundred watt smile. "Your names?" he asked politely.

Doon and Lina looked at each other, their eyes mirroring the other ones. _Do we tell them our names?_ was the million dollar question. Lina nodded first, unsure but Harvey had introduced anyway. Doon followed Lina and spoke first.

"Doon," he got out, his throat raw and his voice raspy from the smoke.

Curious glances swept around the circle. Doon didn't know why.

"Lina," Lina answered strongly, her voice and throat a tad better than Doon's.

"And the child?" a female voice, Ruby they thought, asked.

"Poppy."

Doon became curious too. "And these people holding us against our will?" he asked.

"Ah," Harvey murmured, "I forgot them."

The woman holding Poppy scoffed. "Of course you did, Harvey."

Harvey waved her away, though looking at her. "I did. But anyway, _Caroline_, just settle. See? There, I introduced you." He turned to us, sighing and suddenly looking very tired. "Lina, the person holding you is Garcia and Doon, your person is Jamison."

"He's not _my_ person," Doon said through gritted teeth. Jamison quickly realized what had been said about him.

"Yeah, I'm not _anyone's_ person," he protested.

"You finished with introductions, Harvey?" the bald guy, Jonno asked, looking at his fingernails, bored.

"Yes, yes," he answered.

"Then what are we going to with these three?"

"I dunno," Harvey shrugged.

"You don't know?" a new female asked curiously, pushing in between Harvey and Louisa.

Everyone, excluding Lena, Doon and Poppy, dropped to their knees, bowing to this new woman. Caroline even did, dropping Poppy in the process. Lena lunged and managed to grab her before she hit the ground. Lena hugged her tightly as everyone stood up. Sending glares to Caroline, Lena moved Poppy around so she was comfortable. Doon moved to where the girls stood, and wrapped arm around Lena's shoulders. Lena relaxed into them, glad for the safety.

"Scarrlett," they all breathed in sync.

Scarrlett smiled sickly sweet, and then turned to Doon, Lena and Poppy.

"I'm Scarrlett," she said, holding out a hand.

Lena and Doon looked at each other, terrified expressions on their faces.

Who the hell was this chick? Doon and Lena didn't want to find out.

They ran.


End file.
